Montréal, Quebec’s ultra-brutal tech-death/deathcore act Beneath The Massacre return with their fourth album, Fearmonger.  The band seemingly going into a hibernation for some years, as their last album Incongruous, was released in 2012.  Much of the band has remined intact, the newest member is Anthony Barone, on drums.  When bands are so over-the-top brutal I find a lot of reviews out there slag the band and some of the reviews are spot on, but many other times I wonder if the reviewer took the time to listen to the previous albums by the band to see if there was any musical or positive progression and when I read closer into the review sometimes that is not always the case.

Beneath The Massacre have always had the deathcore attached to them and while the majority of their sound is rooted in brutal tech-death metal they are still unafraid to throw in a bunch of beatdown deathcore slam moments which are awesome.  I was a huge fan of their 2008 offering Dystopia, one of the most brutal tech-death metal albums and Fearmonger is an improvement over their previous album and the 2010 ep Marée Noire.

10 songs in just under the 30” mark “Rise of the Fearmonger” comes blazing in with guitar sweeps, monster blast moments and some truly breathtaking drum rolls.  Yes, the drums are TAF (triggered as fuck), so fast.  The blasting and guitar noodling-yes a lot of noodling on this album everyone, is all over the map.  Elliot’s vocals are so vicious on this, not that they were not before, but it seems the added time away he became even angrier-love his vocals, always have.  The song is over pretty quickly and “Hidden in Plain Sight” is at least about a minute longer, is up next and has a killer bridge, as well as memorable guitar riffing and the slow down at the 1.30 section should have people wind-milling until their face masks start flying off their face.  Some of the guitar noodling, this time around, definitely feels like Rings of Saturn-very spacey and complex. The slow down comes back again and I was happy the band bring this moment back.  The riffing has a bit of a melodic edge to it, which is great, especially when music is this punishing.

“Autonomous Mind” is brutal and the drums are so in your face and some great guitar work and blasting then getting into the outer realm of gravity blasting.  The slower part, early on, is excellent and then it’s off to the races again with the monster blasting. The section at the 1.15 mark is so great with the guitar soloing and it’s slower and then back into the jackhammer blasting.  Some of the weird guitar effects, toward the end of the song, with the slower beat down part brings a smile to my face.  Super memorable and it’s so violent.  Like really violent.  “Tarnished Legacy” ends the album and at 3.30 is the longest song on the album.  Starts with blasting, then more beatdown riffs with the guitar tech Beneath The Massacre signature sound and the song features more start and stop breaks during certain moments towards the end of the song.

Beneath The Massacre have returned and were hellbent on creating their most musically violent album and they have succeeded with Fearmonger.  They may be the most violent sounding tech-death metal band on the planet, hell maybe the solar system.  They are certainly very talented and the new drummer is a blasting machine.  I wanted some of the slower moments to stay longer, but the band quickly shifts back into blast mode.  When the blasting is non-stop, at times, it gets a tad monotonous, but like Rings of Saturn BTM are a guilty pleasure of mine.  Part of the reason why I really enjoy BTM is the production on their albums and Fearmonger is their finest production to date.  Yes, it’s so loud it will destroy ear drums everywhere but Christ almighty the mix is perfect.  To have music this brutal and in your face and the guitars still sound super heavy over the blast and never getting buried is sometimes a losing battle with albums.

But again Beneath The Massacre has created an album where I can hear everything and nothing ever gets drowned out, vocals are the perfect mix and as I said the guitars never get buried with the machine gun drumming.  I think BTM know what they want to release by now and it’s sonic obliteration.  While not quite as great as Dystopia; Fearmonger is a monstrously brutal album.  Get it today!

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